In association with CCR Magazine, Qualco UK hosted a provocative roundtable session in which the consolidation of agency panels and associated challenges were examined. Senior level executives from the financial services, insurance, utilities, telecoms and debt purchase sectors offered a dynamic exchange of opinion, with each sector facing its own unique experiences.

The overriding consensus amongst partcipants who outsourced their collections activies was that agency consolidation was already well underway, if not complete. In particular, the introduction of the FCA and the need for compliance in a new regulatory environment made it impractical for financial services representatives to maintain large panels. Plus, across the board, increasing M&A in the outsource market found a number of firms in a position whereby their panels reduced overnight.

One of the key findings during the incisively curated discussion, chaired by editor Stephen Kiely, was that originators have shifted their view in managing panels. The majority reported the need for a partnership approach to not only achieve better results, but now more importantly to achieve customer rehabilitation and their retention of business.

Other topics explored by the attendees included the relationship with procurement and what role they play in the outsourcing process, how the transfer of data can be improved between them and their third parties, and what level of insight into activities undertaken on their behalf they wanted visibility of.

Jan-Michael Lacey, Head of Sales at Qualco UK said, “We are keen to have regular touchpoints with originators to understand their pain points in order to continue innovating our proposition. Hosting the roundtable was an important milestone in the development and understanding of our business in the marketplace. In Qualco’s position as a master servicer, we are acutely aware of the challenges our clients face and have designed and implemented a suite of solutions accordingly.”

“The beauty of our offering is that clients can gain access to as many or as few agencies as they desire, yet only need to have a relationship with one supplier (us). Equally they can choose to maintain direct relationships with their outsourced panel whilst benefitting from the Qualco ExtraCollect platform through which they have real-time access to every customer account and the activity that has taken place, at the touch of a button. In an environment of such heavy oversight, this has been a game changer in terms of the value add our platform provides.”

“We would like to thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedule to participate. The insight gained will play a significant part in how Qualco shapes its service offering in the short, medium and long-term.”